Effect of graded levels of red grape pomace (Vitis vinifera L.) powder on physiological and meat quality responses of Japanese quail.

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of dietary red grape pomace (RGP) powder on physiological and meat quality responses of Japanese quail. Three hundred quail birds were randomly distributed to five dietary treatments formulated as follows: a negative control diet without antibiotics (NegCon); a positive control diet with antibiotics (PosCon); NegCon diluted with RGP at a rate of 1.5% (RGP15), 3.5% (RGP35), and 5.5% (RGP55). Diet RGP55 promoted higher (p < 0.05) overall feed intake (934.3 g/bird) than diet RGP35 (809.2 g/bird). The NegCon diet promoted the highest breast meat lightness (L*) value (46.1) while the lowest value (42.7) was observed in RGP35 meat. In conclusion, quail birds reared on RGP-containing diets had similar physiological and meat quality parameters as those on the antibiotic-containing diet. An optimum inclusion level could not be determined using the physiological and meat quality responses, suggesting a need to investigate higher levels of dietary RGP.